It has long been an objective of cookware manufacturers to provide cookware having improved strength, improved resistance to heat deformation, as well as the ability to hide scratches, minor dents and other deformations. For these purposes, textured cooking surfaces are known and used. Textured cooking surfaces have also been provided for the drainage of fat and grease away from the food to lower the fat and cholesterol content of the cooked food. Textured cooking surfaces enable a cook to effectively fry food in a minimal amount of fat or grease. In recent years, non-stick coatings are frequently applied to the cooking surface to provide ease of use and make the cookware easier to clean.
However, the effectiveness of the currently available textured cookware has been compromised by current manufacturing techniques. Specifically, it is inherently difficult to manufacture a textured cooking surface which does not have sharp edges which tend to bind or catch a spatula or a cleaning utensil. The sharp edges are caused by the stamping, coining or pressing processes that are currently used to inscribe the textured pattern into the cooking surface. The sharp edges caused by the manufacturing processes are especially disadvantageous because the non-stick coating disposed on these sharp edges wears quickly and therefore the benefits provided by the non-stick coating are compromised. At least 50% of the surface area of conventional textured cooking surfaces can be adversely affected by the sharp edges and the premature wearing of the non-stick coating.
Accordingly, the primary drawback found in textured cookware surfaces taught by the prior art, i.e. sharp edges and lack of durability of the non-stick coating, lies in the manufacturing processes. As noted above, the manufacturing processes currently used to fabricate textured cookware employ stamping, coining or pressing operations.
In contrast, embossing has not been employed for manufacturing textured cookware for two reasons. First, embossing has been traditionally a two-sided process, meaning the surface texture is applied to both sides of the material. Second, traditional embossing techniques cannot be utilized with the relatively thick gauge metal (0.098"-0.128") required for cookware applications; embossing is traditionally performed on materials that are lighter in gauge than materials normally used to manufacture cookware. For example, traditional embossing is carried out on materials having a thickness of no greater than 0.064" or thinner. Further, embossing is normally carried out with matching textured rollers to provide the surface texture on both sides in the material.
Thus, practitioners in the art of cookware have not been very successful at combining non-stick coatings with textured cooking surfaces and there is a need for such an effective combination. Preferably, the textured surface would provide for low-fat or non-fat cooking and would also be of a geometrical configuration that would hold a non-stick coating for an extended period of time. Further, it would be highly preferable for the textured surface to retain its non-stick capabilities after portions of the non-stick coating have worn off. Such wear is inevitable, even with non-textured cooking surfaces. If an effective non-stick coating/textured surface combination could be provided by an effective manufacturing process, the result would have an improved textured cooking surface with an improved nonstick coating with a longer effective lifespan.